Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube announced their intent to begin collaborating on the removal of terrorist propaganda across their services. CDT is deeply concerned that this joint project will create a precedent for cross-site censorship and will become a target for governments and private actors seeking to suppress speech across the web.

CDT’s Tech Talk is a podcast where we dish on tech and Internet policy, while also explaining what these policies mean to our daily lives. In this episode we hear from Steven Koltai, the author of Peace Through Entrepreneurship, who believes entrepreneurship should be prioritized as a diplomatic tool.

CDT has long urged website operators to be transparent, fair, and consistent in developing and implementing their content policies. Companies have an obligation to respect the human rights of their users, and transparency about their content moderation activities is an integral part of that. But when the government attempts to engage in intense scrutiny of a website’s lawful decisions to host constitutionally protected speech, it creates a backdoor to censorship that threatens user speech across the internet.

The dispute between music publisher BMG and Cox Communications has proven to be a standout Digital Millennium Copyright Act case. What the case comes down to is whether internet access providers are required to have a “repeat infringer” policy that removes customers that have engaged in copyright infringement. The court should account for the current realities of internet access and the internet’s significance to economically and socially disadvantaged communities.

Getting privacy, security, and safety policies right for smart cars is crucial and there should be more public cooperation among federal regulators. NHTSA has the subject-matter expertise, while the FTC and FCC have different technical and enforcement capabilities in the realm on privacy and data security. Drivers will benefit by having all three agencies working together and on the same page.

One of the main policy alternatives to weakening encryption for law enforcement is some type of authority for the government to hack into an individual user’s computer. Unfortunately, that debate has not yet happened, but the government is still about to permit mass government hacking with the potential for a whole host of unintended consequences. A cart full of cyber-TNT has been put before the horse.

CDT’s Tech Talk is a podcast where we dish on tech and Internet policy, while also explaining what these policies mean to our daily lives. In this episode we’ll talk about CDT’s recommended priorities for the incoming Administration when it comes to tech and internet policy. We’ll also unpack the FCC broadband privacy rules, which are a win for consumers if they hold up.

This morning, Facebook announced major changes to its “Ethnic Affinity” targeting program. The company will stop allowing advertisers to target ads for offers of housing, employment, or credit using the ethnic affinity marketing categories. This news also demonstrates the value of dialogue and the power of technology to improve the world we live in.